Green cooling solutions for high power electronics

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The ever-increasing desire in telecommunication and power electronics industries to develop more compact systems increases the power density and thermal load frequency. This trend created great challenges for designing efficient cooling solutions. Consequently, one key factor that limits the reliability and higher performance of power conversion devices is the lack of effective heat removal strategies to maintain the device below its maximum allowable operating temperature, while reducing (or eliminating) the parasitic power required for the cooling solution. Such issues give rise to an array of interesting and challenging problems in devising new sustainable cooling strategies to meet industry's present and emerging demands. This project aims to use a systematic approach to develop next-generation sustainable thermal management solutions for high-power electronics (HPE), featuring heat pipes, thermal energy storage with phase change material, compact cold plate heat exchangers, and new efficient naturally-cooled heat sinks, which can all significantly improve system reliability, and reduce parasitic power, the noise, and operation costs for HPE cooling solutions. The proposed research project builds on a productive collaboration over the last six months between Dr. Bahrami at SFU and Alpha Technologies Ltd. Alpha is an established leader in the area of power conversion, and designs, manufactures, installs, and services powering solutions for worldwide telecom, Cable TV (Canada), traffic, security, medical, industrial, and renewable energy industries. This project will benefit Alpha by providing detailed analysis, novel cooling designs and prototypes, testing results, and comprehensive engineering design tools for the development of new thermal solutions for their next-generation HPE products. The proposed research is anticipated to result in significant economic gains for BC and Canada, since the targeted technology is applicable to an emerging and strategic market. Innovations in this area can help reduce Canada's carbon footprint and transform the energy and power electronic sectors.